Huddersfield Giants’ Theo Fages fully expects to get roughed up by his former St Helens teammates but believes his new employers can be potential champions.
The France scrum-half faces his old team on Easter Monday for the first time since switching clubs at the end of last season. Fages, 27, won three Super League titles and the Challenge Cup during his stellar time with the reigning champions.
But his playmaking craft has helped Ian Watson’s fourth-placed Huddersfield start impressively - and hint at being title challengers themselves. Fages told the Daily Mirror: " Watto is a great coach and he’s got a good group together here.
“We’re playing well and building on it. We all want to win things. I feel we’re in a good way. It's a long season and a long process but we’re getting there. We can fight for trophies this year and the next few years will be even better for us.
“We know Saints are a good team and against a good team, if you go wrong, things can go bad for you. We have to be at our best to have a chance to win on Monday.”
Giants missed the chance to temporarily go joint-top when they could only draw 20-20 at struggling Leeds on Thursday. But Fages insisted: “I’m looking forward to playing Saints now and seeing them all. It’ll be a good challenge for us.
"We have some things to correct and have to do better than at Leeds. It’ll be tough after just a few days between games but it’s Easter weekend and fans love it so we’ll do our best.”
Saints, looking for a remarkable fourth straight title, showed their brilliance again with a ruthless 22-4 Good Friday derby win over second-placed Wigan. Asked which of his former team-mates is most likely to try and smash him, Fages - who played almost 150 games for Saints - said: “As a half-back, players are always trying to stop you playing.
“I suppose they’ll all be trying! But we’ll see Monday and I'm looking forward to it. We do keep in touch but it’s just casual chat. There’s been no wind-up this week. There’s a lot of respect between us and they’re still my friends. But on Monday they won’t be.”
Admittedly, Giants showed great character to avoid defeat at Leeds after scoring two tries in the final three minutes. But Fages then saw his long-range drop-goal effort fall short in Golden Point extra-time.
He recalled: “It was a desperate attempt. I just went for it. You never know with them. I missed but realised - with just five minutes - I might not get another opportunity so I had to go for it.”
